Ahmadinejad is driven by a fanatical belief that an Iranian nuclear bomb will bring about the coming of the Shiite messiah, the Mahdi. A new book just out in Beirut discloses his belief that he has been entrusted with the secret mission of providing the Mahdi with this weapon.

Stuxnet has wrought as much strategic damage to Iran's nuclear and military systems as a conventional military strike. The malworm also raided its computers for a massive heist of the Islamic Republic's intelligence secrets.

It didn’t' take Iran too long to start using its new nuclear reactor at Bushehr as a safe hideaway for nuclear and secret weapons facilities.

Obama has embarked on a new and dangerous track for bringing Iran to the negotiating table by interchanging tough measures with benefits. It looks now like heading for failure and ending with Iran acquiring a weapon.

A chain of unreported, mysterious attacks plague Iran. Drones crashed into the Bushehr reactor causing casualties, and a senior Iranian weapons director is assassinated.

This Finnish engineer Olli Heinonen introduced a short-cut recipe for putting Iran in the hot seat. Instead of the nuclear watchdog having to prove Iran is developing a nuclear bomb, Tehran must prove its innocence. He will be missed after his retirement from the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. 

After his talks with Obama failed, Saudi King Abdullah ordered home production of enriched uranium with French assistance, and encouraged Jordan's king to press ahead with uranium exploration and the parallel establishment of an enrichment industry.

President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ended a meeting which both called "excellent" at the White House Tuesday July 6. In a carefully-worded comment, the US president indicated he would continue to respect Israel's nuclear stance and ambiguity about its reported arsenal. He also avoided pressing Israel on extending its 10-month freeze on settlement and Jerusalem construction which expires Sept. 26, but rather voiced the hope that face-to-face Israel-Palestinian talks could go forward by September.

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was assured of a much friendlier and correct White House welcome for his fifth encounter with President Barack Obama July 6 - compared with his unmannerly reception in March. Still, five time bombs are ticking under their seats.The most combustible are Iran's drive for a nuclear weapon and the future of Israel's reputed nuclear arsenal. The US and Israel clearly do not see eye on eye on how and when to take action against Iran.